Justice at Last
by Sarah1281
Summary: In the far-off future, once the game of thrones is won, Stannis takes a moment to survey his city with his heir. Shireen will make a good queen and knowing the realm will be in good hands once he's gone makes victory all the sweeter.


Note: After what happened to poor Shireen on the show and how out of character that whole thing seemed to be for Stannis (we will see what happens with that whenever the books come out!), I needed something happier.

* * *

Stannis had stared out at the city from the balconies of the Red Keep many times over the years and this didn't feel any different. Should it? It was the same city, the same spot overlooking it. There had been some small changes to the city since the last time he had been here but the city was always changing.

This time, though, he was king. And unlike in the years since his brother's death when he had been king in truth but not in practice, there was no doubt. Renly, Balon, Robb, Joffrey…The War of the Five Kings, and a few other players, and he was the last one standing. A humiliating defeat at Blackwater and mocked at his not-nephew's ill-fated wedding but they hadn't killed him. They thought he was beaten but the Tyrells had thought that once before and should have known better.

He had known from the moment he had realized the truth, and more so after Robert's death, that he would probably not survive this. He was _right_ about the Lannisters and their incestuous bastards but the truth was a fragile thing at times and it had been world-shattering to even him, who had no great love for those children or investment in their future. He was _right_ but the Lannisters controlled King's Landing and first Joffrey then Tommen sat on the Iron Throne and enjoyed the undeserved legitimacy that granted them. He was _right_ but they had to call it treason, some even believing that it was, and even if Tywin had a habit of forgiving those that bent the knee, Stannis knew he could never do that. He was the lawful king and Joffrey wasn't even in the line of succession. That cruel boy was a bastard of the worst king. How could he live when he was robbed once again of his inheritance and this time the realm was deceived as well? At least before Storm's End had been Robert's to do as he would with it and Renly was still an heir. Better him than Tommen.

It didn't really matter if any of the pretenders who had risen and fallen had been willing to let him live if he kneeled. He would not, could not, and so he would rule or he would die. He accepted that. And for much of his campaign the latter seemed more likely. But he had outlasted them all and now no one could deny that this was his city, his kingdom.

He had finally received his due, even if he had had to fight for it, but somehow it didn't feel as different as he had thought it would.

There was a presence behind him. All those years of battles and he would never feel safe. He was finally acknowledged as the legitimate king, the one to secure the Baratheon dynasty after the Lannisters sought to usurp it, and he would never _be_ safe.

But it was only Shireen.

She came to stand beside him and the two watched their city in peace.

"Is it strange to say that I prefer Dragonstone?"

Stannis chuckled dryly. "Most would say you were mad but I quite agree with you."

"It's not that King's Landing is a bad place," she qualified.

"It is a terrible place," Stannis countered. "Full of terrible people who have done terrible things."

Shireen nodded slowly. "I think that's true of any place where there's people. Long histories cannot always be good histories. But the ghosts here are not mine."

"No," Stannis agreed. "And they will never be, not so long as I am living. King's Landing can be cruel." The world could be cruel. Shireen had learned that even earlier than Stannis had and yet she had never been bitter about it. Perhaps that was what came of never knowing anything different. And he would never let anyone forget her rights the way his own had so often been looked over. "But you are a princess now and this is your city."

Shireen cocked her head curiously. "Only now? I thought I became a princess years ago when my uncle died. Years ago when you discovered that I had no trueborn cousins after all."

Stannis smiled at that. Yes, he had told her that and insisted that his men refer to her that way, too, but it was easy to call someone a princess. Arianne Martell was a princess and she would never be a queen. The Stark girls were still referred to as princesses by some despite the clear illegitimately and failure of their brother's rebellion. While he hadn't actually heard anyone refer to Asha Greyjoy as a princess it would not surprise him one bit if they had.

Most people hadn't truly considered Shireen to be a princess and future queen until they had begun to believe that Stannis might prevail after all. He wished he could have done away with all the false friends and non-believers entirely but, though no one seemed to believe it, he was perfectly capable of showing mercy and understanding the need to bend.

"Now the people know it," he said. "I was the king the moment my brother died and, though the entire realm had heard the story of the incest, that did not stop their contempt. But what one dares to say about a king's brother or king's niece is quite different than what they will dare to say about a king or their future queen."

"It won't change what they're thinking," Shireen said thoughtfully, "but I suppose that really doesn't matter."

"You're wise to realize that," Stannis said. He was not as immune to the judgement of others as he would like to be though he would like to think he did not let their censure influence him unduly.

"We will never sit on the iron throne," she said. "How strange to rule without it."

Stannis snorted. "That was a monstrosity and we are well rid of it. What is the point of having a throne that you can cut yourself open on by sitting the wrong way? I have no need for such pretensions and now that the Targaryens are gone, getting rid of the iron throne is a good way to differentiate ourselves from them. And everyone began clamoring for the swords made from it so people can't care too much." He was quite fond of the one he claimed for himself.

"Everyone wants you to have a son," Shireen said quietly. "They accept that what happened had to happen from the moment Cersei gave birth to Joffrey but a lot of terrible things happened and a lot of good people died. This succession was more terrible than the rebellion to rid us of the Mad King."

"It was," Stannis agreed. "Though given that Robert became king and married Cersei to secure peace, we could look at our recent troubles as a continuation of the rebellion. Cersei's children would rule all of Westeros and she is the one woman who would knowingly destroy her children's inheritance and her own family, never mind the realm, because she could not simply do her duty. One heir is all it would have taken."

Stannis was well-aware of what Cersei had thought of his brother, well-aware that she was not without cause, but she had a very simple duty. She was willing to bring life into the world three times so how could she not bring the right life into it? Once may have been an accident. Three times could have been nothing but despicably intentional.

"One son," Shireen said meaningfully.

Stannis frowned. "Your mother and I will do our duty. We always have and we will not stop now. Still, I do not believe that it is likely that we will have another child. Not after all this time."

"People are saying you could find a new queen," Shireen said quietly, not looking at him.

"People say a great many things," Stannis said, grinding his teeth. "But what is the use of that? Your mother is my wife and she has done nothing to deserve the dishonor of being set aside. She has even provided me with an heir, though not a son. She has stood by me throughout this war when others demanded we surrender. Even that R'Hllor in the end had its place."

"Even so, you might have a son," Shireen said. "Mother is not so old yet."

"That is true," Stannis said. "Stranger things have happened, certainly. But while it will make the line of succession more secure – for two heirs are always better than one, just look at House Stark – it will ultimately change nothing."

Shireen looked surprised at that. "Men come before women in the line of succession."

"Men can choose their heirs," Stannis said. "Tywin Lannister would never have let the imp inherit despite the kingslayer's ineligibility. Asha Greyjoy managed to win her kingsmoot despite her traitor brother still drawing breath. You will rule after me even if I have a hundred sons."

A small smile came over Shireen's face then. "Queen Rhaenyra was meant to be her father's heir but she had brothers and she was fed to her dragon."

"If you have brothers, they will understand their duty," Stannis said simply. How could he raise a child to do anything else? "I will not deny that it would have been different had I had a son before any of this started but I fought this war to pass the crown on to you. I will not change that now because you are worried that I may have other children, something which is most unlikely now."

Shireen shook her head. "I'm not worried. I just want to know what my future holds."

"You will continue to be educated as befitting a princess of Westeros, my ideas being perhaps more in line with the Martells than with my brother or the Lannisters," he said, remembering Myrcella who had been a sweet girl but not at all raised like Shireen. "We will find an appropriate suitor and you will have Baratheon heirs to secure our legacy. You being a woman, there will be no doubt about their royal blood. _That_ is how we will make sure that the realm does not face war again so soon. It has been enough. We all want peace and those who sought to profit from bloodshed have been shown for what they are and are mostly dead besides."

"What if I can't?"

That was certainly a possibility. There were plenty of women who were unable to bear a living child. Selyse had had difficulty with that. And, as the queen, Shireen could not be put aside to find a woman more fertile. But Stannis' own mother had had three children and Robert had had far more than he had needed, none at all of the ones he needed.

"Then you will face a difficult challenge trying to arrange matters of succession so it will not erupt into war again when you are gone," Stannis said simply. "But that is only a possibility and one that will likely not even come to pass. There are enough problems for today to worry about things that may never happen."

"Do you think I will be able to find someone of high enough birth to be my prince?" Shireen asked. Unconsciously, she touched her face. "I'm not…"

Stannis tilted his head. "Prince? Not king?"

Shireen shook her head. "If there is a king and he marries a queen everyone knows he is the royal one. If I have a king, people may get the wrong idea."

Stannis considered that. It seemed sensible. "You will be the queen of the seven kingdoms. I have no doubt your many suitors will wish to rule for themselves but they will not have that option. The five kings proved just how many people want to rule. They will be after only one thing but men would put up with much more than scars to see their children rule. You do not need to worry about that."

"But I will have to worry about the undue influence of the men from these worthy houses," Shireen said shrewdly. "Even had my cousins truly been my cousins, the Lannisters had too much influence in King's Landing and then the Tyrells did."

"Robert never cared when I tried to warn him," Stannis mused. "And Renly had fallen in love with the Tyrells the moment he watched the tourney they threw to taunt us for starving. But while none of the great houses have realistic options for you, you also know better than to repeat the mistakes of your uncles."

Shireen shifted slightly beside him. "It seems that that will be the greater part of ruling: failing to make the mistakes of those that came before."

"When those mistakes are as disastrous as they have been, to do less would be criminal," Stannis said. "Nobody wanted me to be king, Shireen."

She nodded slowly. "People don't understand justice or, if they do, they have too much to fear from it. But I know how many yet live that you would have liked to kill."

"I could not kill half the lords in the land, for all that Westeros might be better off if I did," Stannis grumbled.

" 'Stannis will break before he bends'," Shireen quoted.

"Donal Noye always liked Robert better," Stannis said, feeling surprisingly unbothered by this simple truth. Everyone always had but look at the mess Robert had made of the realm. Look at how Stannis had cleaned it up for years and years. Look how he was finally being credited for that. "He left Storm's End when I was barely a man. He was worse than one who knew nothing; he was one who knew little but thought himself an expert. I am a hard man, Shireen. I have had to make compromises and sacrifice that burn my blood for the good of the kingdom, compromises and sacrifices that seem so natural to others and no one seems to notice. I have had to be hard to end up where I am but I think the fact you lack that will be an asset to you. Oh, you're not soft. The world has no pity for softness, especially when you're a woman who will rule. I think you will be a good queen."

Shireen looked up at him, standing a little straighter, her eyes serious and full of the same sort of determination he had so often seen in his own. "I will do my duty, Father. I won't let the realm bleed again."

A quiet sense of pride filled him. "That's the most important thing to remember. A strong sense of duty and you're a better ruler than any who came before for many years. My brother Robert's idea of duty was not running away to be a mercenary and leaving that little monster to rule before he absolutely had to. A strong sense of duty and you're a better queen than this realm deserves."

A son, the people were clamoring for? He would do his duty and come what may but what need did he have of a son with an heir like Shireen?

She would be a good queen and, after everything, his only regret was that he could not live to see it.


End file.
